development

Planned downtown erection too big for FAA

adamg — Fri, 16 May 2008 11:20:13 -0400

Gosh, who would have thought the FAA might object to an 80-story tower right across the harbor from Logan?

'A mediocre glass turd of a tower'

adamg — Wed, 14 May 2008 22:51:25 -0400

Jeff Hovis, who lives in Chinatown, tells the BRA exactly what he thinks of the office tower it approved for the Dainty Dot site.

The secret school expansion project in Chinatown

adamg — Fri, 09 May 2008 19:12:31 -0400

Will Ng wonders why the Boston Arts Academy is refusing to discuss its plans to build a school in Chinatown.

Somebody's lion

adamg — Wed, 07 May 2008 12:56:21 -0400

Harry Mattison reports:

... Construction workers on Western Ave... have found several granite lion statues buried at the [Harvard] Science Complex site ...

Yeah, gentrification made the neighborhood safer - now cut it out

adamg — Wed, 07 May 2008 10:08:11 -0400

Evan recounts an interesting discussion at his Fenway laundromat last night - involving some old timers who allowed as how the neighborhood used to be a hellhole but became safer as it gentrified, but:

... Despite the negative attitudes these long-timers have for the earlier days of this neighborhood, they still bemoan the ongoing development projects in the immediate area. "It's just gotten too modern," says the proprietor of my laundromat.

MIT buys up more of Cambridgeport

adamg — Mon, 05 May 2008 20:14:06 -0400

To buy four properties for $90.5 million.

South End hole in the ground to remain a hole in the ground

adamg — Thu, 01 May 2008 12:34:00 -0400

The South End News reports the moneyless developers of Columbus Center will do some "minimal work" at their hole in the ground to keep the hole "in play" should they suddenly find a winning Red Sox scratch ticket or otherwise find the money to actually turn the hole into a development.

Seaport Square depictions

adamg — Thu, 01 May 2008 07:55:11 -0400

John Keith posts an aerial view and a couple of maps of the 23-acre Seaport Square project next to and around the federal courthouse.

Big tax break proposed for company that earned $2.4 billion last quarter

adamg — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 09:03:37 -0400

$4 million package to keep JP Morgan in the city - by consolidating its local operations in a waterfront building, using city and state programs intended to help blighted areas. As the Globe notes:

... The tax breaks come as the city is struggling to fund its school system and Mayor Thomas M. Menino has proposed increasing parking fines to raise money. ...

However, the tax deal would run through 2022, with the estimated $4 million in breaks spread out over that period, so it's not like the city will have to close a school or two next month to pay for it.

Hyde Park/Mattapan to get big-box mall

adamg — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:47:25 -0400

A mall developer wants to turn the old Bay State Paper mill on River Street into a mall with room for at least three "big box" retailers, the Hyde Park Bulletin reports. But first they have to come up with a name, since 892 River St. isn't all that exciting.